Influence of Pregnancy on the Occurrence of Lumbar Spine Pain in Polish Women: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

(1) Background: Low Back Pain is a major health concern. Pregnancy-related lower back pain is a common complaint among women. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of pregnancy history on the occurrence and profile of pain in the lower spine. (2) Methods: The diagnosis of Lower Back Pain during pregnancy was based on the authors’ questionnaire, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index and Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire. The research group consisted of 1112 women who were students or came for various reasons to the Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinical Hospital of Poznan University of Medical Sciences and completed the questionnaires. Patients were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of women who had never been pregnant (never-pregnant, n = 872 (78.4%), and the second group consisted of women who had been pregnant at least once in their lives (ever-pregnant, n = 240 (21.6%)). (3) Results: In the never-pregnant and the ever-pregnant women, respectively, the intensity of pain was 4.6 ± 1.6 and 5.0 ± 2.0 on the VAS scale, the degree of disability on the Oswestry Disability Index Questionnaire was 5.0 ± 3.9 and 5.5 ± 4.4, while the impact of pain on functioning on the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire was 3.9 ± 3.1 and 3.9 ± 3.3. There were no significant differences (Mann-Whitney U test) between the studied groups in the parameters tested. (4) Conclusions: Pregnancy is a risk factor for back pain during pregnancy, but one year or more after pregnancy the occurrence of back pain is similar to that in women who have never been pregnant.